Maxi Pereira

Defender

Soul of a Dragon

Hard to beat and tireless on both ends of the pitch, Maxi Pereira “plays like a Dragon”, as the chairman of FC Porto himself, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, stated. The responsibility of wearing the number 2 jersey fits him well, as the soul of the Dragons goes hand in hand with this number, considering it once belonged to players such as João Pinto, Jorge Costa and, more recently, Danilo. With Maxi Pereira, the right wing will keep having great performances, and the winning spirit will remain the same.

He arrived to Estádio do Dragão in July, 2015, and has great experience in the Portuguese League – over 260 matches played –, which carries on the national squad: he is the player with the most caps ever for Uruguay, having won a Copa America in 2011. Maxi grew up in Montevideo, born in a big family (seven brothers), and lost his father when he was 13 years old, which defined a good part of his character and allowed him to launch a career that actually started in the midfield – playing for Defensor Sporting –, only later moving further to the back of the pitch. That happened after he arrived in Europe, by the hand of Benfica, in 2007.